God is very thorough and methodical.  We see this, for example, in the countryside.  There is a regular round of seasons of the year, each with its own purpose – the spring for growth, the summer for ripening, the autumn for harvest, and then the winter for rest as Nature pauses before the growth and activity of another spring.  Everything works according to a careful plan.

Now God looks after our souls in the same methodical, careful way by means of the Seven Sacraments.  They are so planned as to give us all the grace we need from the cradle to the grave, and indeed even after that.

Holy Baptism

God cannot start too early to look after our souls, and so the first Sacrament, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, is all ready for us as soon as we are born.  So when you, or most of you, were a few weeks old you were brought to the church, and the priest baptised you with water at the font, and God the Holy Spirit came into your soul making you a member of his Church.

Confirmation

The grace we receive at that time in Baptism in enough for us while we are small, but as soon as we begin to grow up and face new difficulties and temptations so we need new grace to strengthen our souls.  And this is given in the Sacrament of Confirmation, for when the bishop lays hands of your head, God the Holy Spirit fills your soul, making you a full member of the Church and a well-equipped soldier of Christ.

Reconciliation or Penance

But before you are confirmed, you prepare your soul for the coming of the Holy Spirit so that it may be as pure and clean and worthy as can be.  So you make your first Confession and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) your soul is made white and you receive God’s forgiveness.

Holy Communion

In most churches, you make your first Communion after you have been confirmed.  In some churches, however, you make you first Communion before you are confirmed.  When you make your first Communion you kneel at the altar rails and receive the Blessed Sacrament of Our Lord’s Ascended Body, and he and you are made one.

You’ll notice that we’ve talked about your first Confession and first Communion.  It is a good rule to make your Confession regularly all through your life in order to keep your soul clean and close to God.  And you should make your Communion regularly and frequently all through your life so that Jesus and you may always be part of one another.  We can think of these as twin Sacraments, the one separating us from sin and the other uniting us to God.

Holy Matrimony

And so you grow up and become men and women, and many of you will want to get married and have your own home.  And here again God is at hand to help you, and in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony to give you the grace you need for your home to be a Christian home.  So you take one another “till death us do part”.

Holy Order

Apart from the Sacraments of Holy Baptism, and also Holy Matrimony, all the Sacraments we have mentioned can be administered only by a priest – with the exception of Confirmation which the bishop administers.  So you can see that a Sacrament is needed to ordain bishops, priests and deacons in order that people may be able to receive the Sacraments.  This particular Sacrament is called the Sacrament of Holy Order, and it can be administered only by a bishop.

Holy Unction (Anointing of the Sick)

So we come to the seventh Sacrament, that of Holy Unction or the anointing of sick people with oil which has been specially blessed for the purpose by a bishop.  This Sacrament is for people who are seriously ill or in danger of death because of old age, and especially for those who are dying.  And so we see that, at the end of our life, God is still at hand to help us through the Sacraments of his Church.  If we are fortunate enough to have warning that we are going to die, we then make our last Confession and our last Communion, and we receive the Sacrament of Holy Unction to support us as we pass from this life, at peace with God.  Thus, as we began with him so we also end with him.

And even then, when we have gone from this world, we are still helped on our way through Purgatory to Heaven by the Requiems offered to God on our behalf by those we have left behind.  So these Eucharists offered for us will bring us God’s grace to strengthen and refresh our souls in Purgatory.

NOTE

In the statement in the Catechism that there are two Sacraments only, “as generally necessary to salvation” (1), the word ‘generally’ is used in the sense of ‘for all’; just as the general weather forecast, as distinct from the regional forecast, is for all parts.  Thus, though it is not necessary for salvation that one should have received, say, the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, the Sacraments of Baptism and of Holy Communion are necessary for all, where they may be had.

Where they cannot be had, the Church recognises:

• a Baptism of Blood, that is, when a martyr for the Faith, though not yet baptised, is regarded as being baptised in his blood;
• a Baptism of Desire, that is, when a convert to the Faith dies before he or she can be baptised;
• Spiritual Communion, when one is deprived of the ministration of the Church.

Thus God, in his love and goodness, looks after us from infancy and childhood to youth and manhood and womanhood, until at last we come to the end of our life.  All through our life he is at hand, by means of the Seven Sacraments, to keep us safe from sin and to unite us to himself.  In this way our souls, made in his image, are changed by him into his likeness so that one day we may be able to see him and live with him in Heaven and so reach our true journey’s end.

SUMMARY

God looks after our souls from the cradle to the grave by means of the Seven Sacraments.  They are:

• Holy Baptism (usually in infancy)
• Confirmation (as we begin to grow up)
• Reconciliation/Penance (regularly all through our life)
• Holy Communion (regularly and often throughout our life)
• Holy Matrimony (“till death us do part”)
• Holy Orders (for those called to be bishops, priests and deacons)
• Anointing of the Sick/Holy Unction (for sick and dying people)

Reference

Church of England (1662) The Book of Common Prayer.  A Catechism.  Available from: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/bcp/texts/catechism.html   (Accessed 23 August 2010) (Internet).